


Homecoming

by ThymeSprite



Series: Trio Challenge [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Turned Into a Ghost, Crimes & Criminals, Mother-Son Relationship, Past Relationship(s), Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 11:38:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13145895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThymeSprite/pseuds/ThymeSprite
Summary: After a long time, she is coming home. And she has a score to settle.





	Homecoming

“Ain’t she a beauty?”, the old sea captain next to her sighed with a fond smile on his lips and Mariana could not help it, she had to glance at him. He truly was old; his face weathered and brown like old leather, his hands covered with tanned, wrinkled skin, calloused from years of hard work out on sea, steering his ship safely through hardships unnumbered.

But even though she clearly saw that the joints in his hands were all swollen, there was still a juvenile shine in his eyes. They made him seem young, almost boyish in his happiness. If only she had ever felt anything similar.

The thought made her cautious smile falter and die on her lips and Mariana unconsciously touched the brooch on her coat, caressing the ruby embedded in it.

The captain’s admiring voice pulled her from her thoughts: “Just look at the town, glistening there in the dusk. She’s a real gem.”

Mariana tucked a strand of hair behind her ear to look out onto the town’s coast. It was true, it was a beautiful sight, the harbour there in the fading light as they approached it from the stormy sea. It was heart-wrenching, but it truly was beautiful.

“It’s good to come home.”, the captain said with a content sigh and Mariana kept her eyes on the town as she replied, “I would not know, I have not been home in a long time. You?”

“I’ve never left, Miss.”, the old captain laughed heartily, “Born and raised in this little town right there.”

Mariana smirked crookedly. She, too, was from this very town she was now looking at for the first time in many years, but he did not need to know that. It would not change anything. So instead she said: “It must be beautiful to be home, to feel like a child again, without sorrows or concerns, without sadness.”

Once again she glanced at the captain, but then set her eyes on the town, her home town, and she whispered sadly: “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel young.”

“But Miss…”, the captain’s rough voice startled her, as she had not thought he would hear her whisper, “You’re still young.”

Mariana just smirked at that.

“There’s still plenty o’ time for you to go back home if you want to.”, the old captain reassured her and Mariana took a deep breath, then she nodded, “You’re right, there is still time. One day.”

He smiled proudly at her, but Mariana looked away, thinking that this day was a lot closer than she had ever thought it could be. It was almost upon her, almost. But it had to wait a while longer, Mariana thought, as she saw the fog gathering around the ship, slowly blocking their view of the little coast town they were approaching.

“What in Pete’s name…”, the old seafarer mumbled in astonishment, but Mariana merely smiled. She had learned to love fog over the years.

But the crew of the ship was getting in a flap as the fog enclosed them and effectively blinded them.

“Let go anchor!”, the captain yelled an order, followed by a string of curses interspersed with other orders Mariana did not fully understand, but neither did she care. All she really picked up was that they were staying right where they were, off the coast of the little town.

“Dang it.”, the captain cursed once again, mumbling into his white beard, “We can’t see a thing in this blasted fog…”

Mariana looked at him and with an apologetic shrug he said: “We gotta stay here for now. I’m terribly sorry, Miss.”

“You should have said that a long time ago.”, Mariana whispered and she saw confusion cloud the man’s eyes, like a whitish veil that was pulled over them.

“You do not remember, do you?”, she then spoke, a disbelieving grin on her face, but her voice sharp as a razor’s edge, “Did you really forget the girl you and your friends cornered that one summer day under the docks? The girl you raped?”

Mariana watched as he paled, blanched with sudden realisation, recognition, so she nodded softly: “Yes, it’s me. Back then I did not know how to fight you, let alone all five of you. Now I know.”

“T-that was 60 years ago…”, the captain stammered and Mariana shook her head as she walked to him, taking the brooch off her coat, “Maybe for you it was. For you it was 60 years, three months and five days ago. But not for me, for me it was just yesterday.”

She smiled as the old man who had once been her classmate shivered and backed away from her, shivering and cowering in fear as she had done 60 years ago.

But no one saved her back then and no one would save him now.

With a quick and trained motion of her hand Mariana jabbed the needle of her brooch deeply into his neck, jammed it into his aorta. It still amazed her that there was no blood; the brooch drank it all. But it was glorious to see the fear in his eyes and then, slowly, see it fade as the life left the wretched creature.

The more the brooch drank, the stronger Mariana felt and she actually felt wrinkles vanish, felt her weakened, old joints mend themselves, her body rejuvenating itself with the brooch’s magic.

As the rejuvenating flow ended, Mariana gasped and she knew that the brooch had sucked the old man dry, had drank the last drop of blood.

With a satisfied smile, Mariana looked down at the now mummified body of the old seaman. Now his skin looked even more like leather.

She pulled the brooch’s needle out of the flesh, now more parchment than skin, and dragged the body to the railing, hoisting it up and unceremoniously dumping the dead weight into the sea.

“Captain?”, she heard one of his men shout out to him so Mariana turned around to face the so far disembodied voice, slowly seeing a young man emerge from the thick fog. She had not realised that her faithful companion had had the ship so tightly in its clasps.

“Ma’am, you alright?”, the young man asked and she nodded with a grateful smile before he asked, “Have you seen the captain?”

“No.”, she shook her head, “But… I heard a splash just a moment ago.”

“So did we.”, the young sailor sighed and then turned around to shout over his shoulder, “Man over board!”

Mariana bit her tongue in order not to smile. They would never find him and even if they did, they would not recognise him.

“Ma’am, let’s get you below deck.”, the sailor offered his hand to steady her, “It ain’t safe here in this fog. I don’t trust it.”

“Alright, thank you.”, she said, but smiled to herself. The young man had good instincts, but he had nothing to fear from her. So Mariana calmly followed him back to her cabin as he escorted her below deck.

“He is still in town.”, Mariana heard the quiet voice from the ruby, heard it resonate in her head, “So close.”

“I know.”, she whispered, urging for patience. She had waited more than 60 years; she could wait one more night. One more night and then she could finally die in peace after getting revenge for the child she had been, sixty years ago, and for the child she had given birth to back then, the boy with five fathers and only twelve minutes to live before he became the one to find his fathers for her. One by one.

**Author's Note:**

> The following prompts inspired this story:
> 
> Location: A village next to a harbour  
> Sentence: “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel young.”  
> Bonus: Brooch


End file.
